Phillies looked uggla tonight! Against Willis... My late April Rant!

Did you know? Tom Gordon's salary this year is $7 million dollars???

and Adam Eaton's salary is $7.2 million dollars this year? Can you say overpaid?

The Phils indeed looked ugly and uggla against the Florida Marlins on Saturday night. Adam Eaton should be the next starter to be shuffled off to bullpen, and at the soonest available time! He looked dull, flat and gave up what his ERA 7.71, is and that he has been doing during the month of April. He lacks some inspiration and looks like he's bored out there on the mound as he starts serving up those hanging breaking balls that just fly over the heads of the Phil's outfielders like missles.

Let's not fool ourselves, this team in it's present form is not the team to beat. There are several holes in it. Relief is almost non existent sans Alfonseca who has looked very good early on. Everyone else in the pen has been very unreliable and the closer, Tom Gordon should be shopped to be unloaded asap. He is a pitching nightmare and I think he has lost his stuff completely. He may go on to get more saves for the Phils, but I think he will continue to blow games left and right till there will be no more choice and the Phils will have to bow to fan pressure and take him out of the closers roll. Time will tell, when the Phils start doing anything about this terrible situation.


Offensively at times the team looks like a freight train, almost unstoppable. At other times, it can't fight it's way out of a paper bag. Is anyone the leader of this team? I thought Pat the Bat may be the leader, but he isn't vocal enough at least publicly to his teammates. A championship team has a lot of characteristics that make it a champion. In 1993, it was a bunch of tough blue collar guys who pulled together, drank together and won baseball games as a team. Even though they weren't World Series champions, they inspired us. In 1980, the Phils had a great team of veterans who got the job done with nonstop hustle. They gave us a world championship that now was 27 years ago.

Could Pat Gillick be correct in his statement that this team will not contend till 2008? Or did he buy himself some extra time as GM with that statement? Eaton surely looks like a dud, I'd rather have Randy Wolf on the mound any day rather that Eaton. So some of his moves are starting to look foolish. Garcia isn't going to win the Cy Young award this year either, and the Phils are paying him a bundle.

Oh yes and did I mention the broadcast moves this year? No Larry Anderson on TV? That's insane, and no Scott Graham that's unbelieveable. Too much Wheels, Harry, and new sidekick Gary Mathews on TV, that is for sure. I hear that from a lot of fans so we should start writing the Phils on this and telling them that 's not what we want!

One last note, is it me or should Cabrera of the Marlins be tested for eating too many Big Macs with XXL Fries? Or is he on some sort of substance enhancing formula? He looks nothing like the skinny runt he used to look like. I'm sure he wouldn't chance his career with a banned substance, but that boy has packed on about 30 pounds since I last saw him play last year. Guard the Tony Luke's stand at Citizen's Bank Park! With a guy like him around, he'd down about 5 cheesesteaks himself.

Rich Baxter /// Philly Sports Talk Now!

Philly Sports Talk Now! Show 40 (Apr 25 2007)

The Phils are red hot, and we talk about their recent winning streak. Ryan Howard does he recover from his slump, and turn things around? Jim talks some Minor League Ball and who the Eagles should draft on draft day. All this and more, on Philly Sports Talk Now!




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Philly Sports Talk Now! Show 39 (Apr 18 2007)

Charlie Manuel squares off against 'shock jock' sports radio personality Howard Eskin, we give you our take on it! The Phillies moribund start continues, will the warm weather help them out? Brett Myers to the pen, he was the Opening Day starter, now relegated to the bullpen. Can he be effective? All this and more on show 39.




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Manuel squares off against 'The King' hear what we think about it tonight!

The Philly Sports Talk Now! podcast will be on later around 10pm, tonight's show will cover the simming feud started by 'The King' (self proclaimed by the way) Howard Eskin from WIP Radio against Charlie 'Country Boy' Manuel. We offer our take on this battle of wits and words. Who was right, who was wrong. We talk Phillies baseball. Don't give up yet, this is just starting to get interesting.
My post last night when the Phil's were bashed by the Mets had me down in spirits a bit, but all is still not lost. The Phils will play many more times against the Mets this year and they aren't exactly on their way to a 100 win season either.

Tune in later tonight, and hear what the Philly Sports Talk Now! show thinks about all of this!

Rich

Phil's play uninspired vs. The Mets

The Phillies finally got to play baseball on Tuesday night. You would have guessed that they would have come out onto the field and want to tear up their rivals the New York Mets. Tom Glavine really has the Phil's number though, and he really pitched a great game, even getting himself out of several jams that could have led to the Phils taking the lead a couple times.

It's the middle of the game, two men on base for the Phils, who's coming up but the Smash Brothers, Utley followed by Howard and then Burrell. Out, Out, Out. No rally, no inspiration. Utley caught looking at a pitch that you don't take, you try to protect the plate.Howard strikes out swinging, at least he took a hack at it! Then Burrell tries to save the inning but pops up and the rally whimpers to an end. These things don't happen to great teams. Perhaps we were wrong and the Phillies aren't a great team.

This seems like it may be a long season. There's a reason the Eagles announced thier season 5 months early, it may take some of the sting away from all these Phillies losses. 3-9 is an important stat, something isn't working. Simple ideas of advancing runners to score isn't being accomplished, thus your not scoring enough runs. When the pitching is good for the Phils, the bats go quiet, and the opposite is true on other games. Charlie Manuel, you've tried to make it work, through thick and thin, but this isn't your battle anymore if you make it to the end of the month, I'll be surprised. The players are letting you down, and as the manager you are the one that is blamed.

Philly Sports Talk Now! Show 38 (Apr 11 2007)

Our weekly podcast about Philly sports finds us interviewing Tom Goyne of the website, Balls Sticks Stuff.com, Tom joins us and tells us about his website and his passion for Philly sports. We examine the Phillies season up to this point, what's going wrong, and can it be fixed? All this and more on show 38.




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Next show featuring Balls Sticks and Stuff - Mr. Tom Goyne

Our next webcast for Wednesday night will feature Mr. Tom Goyne from Balls Sticks and Stuff, a Philly sports website that has a number of unique features to it. He'll be our special guest to tell us all about the site, and of course we'll those Fightin' Phils, that now have dropped far below my expectations for them but I'm not going to boo them or jump off the Phillies bandwagon just yet!

All this and more on our next webcast!


Rich / Philly Sports Talk Now!

First Win!, more to follow

The Phils did indeed get their fish fry last night, and a beautiful performance by just about everyone on the team. This team is in need of a solid leader to step to the forefront. Utley leads by example but I don't think he is the leader of the Phils, Burrell could be that guy that steps to the front and leads this club this year. Burrell's many years of experience and his long tenure with the Phils could go a long way to making things happen for the Phils this year. The Phil's may have left 32 men on base with the opening series at Citizen's Bank Park but they scored one quarter of that total last night with the 8-2 thumping of the Marlins.

Last night, Burrell showed what he is capable of, his defense and offense stole the highlight reel. Take that, fans that love to boo Burrell at Citizen's Bank Park! I've never been a fan of doing that, I don't like kicking people if their not doing that well at times, I'd rather give them encouragement. 2-4 with 4 rbi's for Burrell and he's well on his way to 100 rbi's if he can stay healthy. Rollins also did what he does best, help win ballgames. He smacked a homerun himself, and last year had a career high 25 homeruns and 83 rbi's! that is great for a shortstop.

Hanley Ramirez, SS for the Marlins and also only the Rookie of the Year for 2006 in the NL, could have stolen the Phillie's quest to win this ballgame as he left 6 men on base in this game. Look for him to improve over this series as the games go on. The Phils play division rivals 19 times each this season and they owned the series last year with the Marlins winning 13 of the 19. Doing this again this season will put them on their way to a 90 win season.

What an exit for the Phils from Citizen's Bank Park on Thursday when I attended my first game of the season watching the Fightins', it was 32 with the wind chill, snow flurries, and cold hotdogs! Now they are in beautiful sunny South Florida with 80 degree temperatures, ice cold iced teas, and good hot fried fish!

Oh yes, one more thing, bring back Scott Graham! We should start a movement at Citizens Bank Park, with signs and chants! 'We want Graham!" "We Want Graham!" .... I can hear it now.

Rich Baxter / Philly Sports Talk Now!

Reviewing our picks for the MLB season

The MLB season is only a few days old, so I am going to review our picks for the majors that we did on our podcast/webcast over the past couple shows. Rich Baxter, Jim Mulry, and Mike Berquist look into the crystal ball for 2007:

East / Central / West ------Wildcard
Rich: NL - Phillies / Chicago Cubs / Dodgers ---Mets
AL - Boston / White Sox / Oakland ----Yankees

Jim: NL - Phillies / Houston / Dodgers ----Atlanta
AL - Yankees / White Sox / Angels -----Red Sox

Mike: NL - Phillies / Cardinals / Dodgers ----Mets
AL - Yankees / Twins / Oakland -----Red Sox

It's a long season for sure, but we've been waiting six months for the season to start! It's great to have baseball back! Happy Easter to all...

First Phil's BPS for me this season, sweep? Say it ain't so!

My first game in attendance for 2007 was today's BPS at 3:05 pm, and hats, mittens, and scarves, where really needed! The wind whipped around the stadium in the lower level concourse areas so badly your teeth chattered, and that was before the Phil's took to the field! It was 43 degrees at game time, but with the wind chill and overcast skies it felt like 32 degrees. As strange as that was, the game followed suit. The Phil's looked listless, like they couldn't fight their way from a paper bag. The bright spot was Pat Burrell today, he got a small amount of boos here and there upon a strikeout but when he hit the ball, he ignited the crowd! A double off the Southwest Airlines sign in center sent the fans into fits, they clapped cheered and all of his 'sins' if you can call them that were forgotten.

I also heard something today, I didn't think I would hear from the crowd, booing last year's MVP Ryan Howard. Can this be possible? Even on the radio broadcast, Larry Anderson couldn't believe it, and mentioned this on the air. Are people that critical in Philly? They boo Santa, so they would boo the King of Homeruns too? I saw Howard angrily react after a strikeout in the dugout by throwing a cup in disgust. This is not good. Is this why the Phillies only won 1 more game than they lost last year at home? They wouldn't get this bad a treatment on the road for crying out loud. I can see being disappointed as a fan but to boo your own players in their home stadium is beyond me. The fans should stand by their players, maybe their in a slump, maybe they had a bad day at home, whatever! I am sure anyone reading this has had bad days and for someone to kick you when your down, that is inexcusable.

Yes, the Phils got swept at home. The first three games are history. Now they go down to Florida to play the hungry Marlins. Thank god, there is only 6-7 thousand people in that stadium and chances are they won't be booing the Phillies. Something is wrong, I don't know if is all the players fault. It does speak volumes when you go .500 at home but you win more games on the road that much is for sure.


Rich / Philly Sports Talk Now!

Philly Sports Talk Now! Show 37 (Apr 4 2007)

A shortened show this week, we talk of course Phil's baseball. Rich tours Citizen's Bank Park! Phillies PR Dept. Fred McKie, thanks very much! We recommend this tour to any baseball fan, especially Phil's fans... More on this in weeks to come. Game 2 tonight vs. The Braves.
All this and more on Philly Sports Talk Now!





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Flag Unfurled .. the Phillies season starts

Flag Unfurled
Originally uploaded by MaRkoP.....

With much fanfare, the Phillies season is underway. Now it's time to play ball!

Nice photo of Opening Day at Citizen's Bank Park here, used with permission!

Paint the town Red, the Phils are back

phillies season game 4.1.07 (29)
Originally uploaded by ramonsantiago.

Nice photo here, paint the town red in deed! Welcome back Phillies..

Phil's Opener, not all is lost .... yet !

The Phil's dropped the opener, no big deal. Their opening day record is not one to relish over anyway. Missed opportunity though, I thought Chase Utley was going to come through and be the hero yesterday. There will be other games to win that way this season I am sure. The quality of play was excellent from both teams, and don't count Atlanta out of the NL East anytime soon, they looked really solid.

As I've noted here, I have embarked on a new podcast at Fightin' Phils 2007 Audio Blog
here I can put many podcasts out concerning the Phils and MLB during the course of the Phil's season. Join me over at this new blog to check it out.

One of the items I have checked out this season is over at MLB.com they have a neat free contest called "Beat The Streak" it is totally free and you have the chance at winning $100K if you can simply pick one batter each night and all he has to do is get a hit, your streak continues as many times in a row that your batter gets a hit. I am up to 2 at the moment! Another 55 games and I win the $100k! You can also win prizes for longest streaks during the season if no one gets to 'Beat The Steak". All you need is an MLB login and password and the best part about it as I've said, it is free!

Rich / Philly Sports Talk Now!

Play Ball! Opening Day for the Phil's

2007 is the 125th season of baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies! The Phil's all time record on Opening Day is 56-66-2 believe it or not there were two ties on back to back years in 1923-24. This season marks the third year that the Phil's will open at home in a row.

Brett Myers takes the mound for Opening Day later in Philadelphia, he went 12-7 for the Phils last year with a 3.91 era in 31 games started with 189 strikeouts. Myers will oppose the tough John Smoltz a 16 game winner last year. Cole Hamels gets the ball for the Phil's for Game 2 of the Braves series, I hope he does better now that the season counts!

Our weekly podcast coming up later this week will look at some interesting happenings for the Phillies this year. There is also a new webcast/podcast that I am producing for the season called the 'Fightin' Phils 2007 Webcast' that will be a series of podcast devoted only to the Phillies season- you can find it here.


Thank goodness, spring is here and it is Opening Day!


Rich Baxter / Philly Sports Talk Now!

Boston sweeps exhibition, time to worry?

Boston swept into Philly and took both games of the exhibition series on Friday and Saturday. The games gave us all our first look of Dice K, the Japanese pitching sensation, who wasn't really sensational on Saturday but earned the win over the Phillies and the respect of the Phil's batters who tried their best to hit him.

For the Phil's it was meltdown by young pitcher, Cole Hamels on Friday. Cole has a long way to get back to his form if he is to be successful this year. I may have bought into Jimmy Rollins hype that this is the year for the Phils myself, I forcast the Phil's to have 95 wins this season, but if they play like they did this weekend all season long, it could be 95 losses! Adam Eaton was equally unimpressive on Saturday for the Phil's. One thing the Phillies need is to have more victories in front of their own fans this season. Here's some stats to ponder:

A. Eaton (0-3, 7.91) Spring Training Stats 2007
C. Hamels (1-3, 6.10) " " "

Last year at home the Phils record: 41-40 (Home record 2006)
On the road the Phils won more games! 44-37 (Road record 2006)

Opening Day is Monday, San Francisco and Oakland opened up the season on the west coast and the Mets and the Cardinals kicked the season off tonight in St. Louis on Sunday, and as I write this I am watching the game and those Mets look awfully tough!

Rich / Philly Sports Talk Now!